Facebook deal slams NBL into the big time

The National Basketball League could soon earn more broadcast revenue outside Australia than from local sources.

Young American prospects LaMelo Ball, of the Illawarra Hawks, and RJ Hampton, of the New Zealand Breakers. Picture: Getty Images

The National Basketball League could soon earn more broadcast revenue outside Australia than from local sources after striking a deal with Facebook to show 52 matches live in the US during its 2019-20 season.

The partnership with Facebook, to be announced on Monday, will see 52 NBL games featuring young American prospects LaMelo Ball and RJ Hampton streamed on Facebook Watch via the NBL Facebook page.

NBL owner Larry Kestelman said Facebook was paying a rights fee for the deal and, while he would not reveal the exact number, said it was “a significant amount”.

“This is part of our strategy of making the league the second-best in the world. As a result of that, it means we get more eyeballs from overseas watching the league, and there is a buzz about us now. So what that means is we think that it will not be long until we are generating more rights revenue from overseas than we do here.

“We are shown in 33 countries now, across various platforms, which we are very happy about. And we will have more announcements coming too, with other platforms. We want to keep expanding our reach … gone are the days when you have a traditional rights holder telling you how you have to watch something, and when. It is the other way around now.”

Ball and Hampton, both 18, will play for the Illawarra Hawks and New Zealand Breakers respectively, and are considered genuine chances to be drafted in the first handful of picks in next year’s National Basketball Association draft in the US.

They already attracted significant media attention in the US for moving to Australia under the NBL’s “Next Stars” program, which offers promising young players the change to play professionally against tough opposition rather than joining the US college system, in preparation for a career in the NBA. Ball is a member of “the Kardashian family of basketball”, with a reality television program, Ball in the Family, said to attract more than 1 million viewers per edition on Facebook Watch, and older brother Lonzo plays in the NBA for the New Orleans Pelicans.

The younger Ball’s move has attracted plenty of attention, with highlights from his pre-season game against South East Melbourne in Albury last weekend being viewed more than 1.2 million times across social media.

Meanwhile, Kestelman said 27 scouts from NBA team travelled to Tasmania to look at prospective recruits playing in the NBL Blitz pre-season tournament last week.

An additional 23 regular-season games (one per NBL round), ­finals and other highlights will be streamed in Australia and New Zealand on Facebook Watch as part of the new agreement.

Karren Rogers, of Facebook Australia Sports Partnerships, said: “We’re thrilled to bring the exciting action of the NBL to Facebook Watch.

“People in the US — especially Ball in the Family fans — will enjoy watching two of basketball’s brightest young stars develop overseas, while those in Australia and New Zealand will now have a new way to watch and interact with the NBL.”

LaMelo Ball will play his first game for Illawarra against the Brisbane Bullets on October 6. Hampton will make his debut for the Breakers against Andrew Bogut’s Sydney Kings on October 18.

The NBL in late July announced a new domestic broadcast rights deal with SBS Viceland and US network ESPN, which is carried in Australia on Foxtel and Kayo. Viewers will also be able to stream all 126 matches live via the SBS on Demand service.

The local deal has not attracted a large rights fee but the NBL has struck a contract with both broadcasters that will see it share advertising revenue.

SBS Viceland will also broadcast some NBA matches later this year.